The purple-faced man looked searchingly into the clear, steady eyes of the young Army officer. Then he answered laughingly:
"Oh, come, now. Don't try to keep me guessing too long, or I may lose my patience, and you may lose some money that you'd rather have. Up forward there's a stateroom, and the light is turned on in there. Just step into the stateroom, by yourself, and count—this."
From a trousers pocket the purple-faced one had drawn a huge roll of bank-notes. Before Hal Overton could understand what was happening the stranger had pushed this roll of money into the young officer's hand.
"That's only a starter—something down to prove good faith, you understand," whispered the stranger.
"You—you dog!" cried Lieutenant Hal angrily.
Swat! The compact roll of bank-notes struck the stranger in the face, then bounded to the floor at Hal's feet. The latter kicked the money away from him.
"You needn't be so huffy about it," grumbled the other. "As I told you, that money is only a deposit paid down."
"You'll go down, if you try anything more like that," uttered Lieutenant Hal wrathfully.
"Ah, now, see here, don't be a fool," urged the stranger huskily. "I don't want to spend a lot of time behind bars or too much in the courts either. Now, all you'll have to do will be to help me frame a yarn that we can both——"
"Stop! I think I've heard about enough from you," warned Lieutenant Overton angrily.